Watching Her
by miley-avril
Summary: "He's been watching her from afar for the past few weeks. And no, Hook doesn't consider himself to be a stalker. He's just… drawn to her. He blames it on the way the sun reflects in her blonde hair. How it makes her look like an angel, and, at dusk, he sometimes swears it creates a halo." Hook's thoughts as he muses about Emma. Captain Swan, not canon.


**I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS CAME ABOUT. I REALLY DON'T. I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR ALL THE STORIES I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS. I GOT SICK AGAIN AND I'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY WITH WORK AND SCHOOL. SO, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S STUCK WITH ME. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME. THIS DOESN'T REALLY TAKE PLACE DURING A CERTAIN EPISODE OR ANYTHING. HOWEVER, THE WHOLE TAMARA AND CORA THING NEVER HAPPENED IN THIS. SO YEAH. THANKS FOR READING.**

**I DO NOT OWN 'ONCE UPON A TIME' OR ITS CHARACTERS.**

He's been watching her from afar for the past few weeks. And no, Hook doesn't consider himself to be a stalker. He's just… drawn to her. He blames it on the way the sun reflects in her blonde hair. How it makes her look like an angel, and, at dusk, he sometimes swears it creates a halo. Emma's definitely his angel, he thinks. Between the hair and the perfect skin and her looks… definitely an angel. Well, except for the fact that she doesn't act like one. He hides a small smirk every time an expletive falls from her mouth or she does something that is most definitely not legal. Then again, any laws in this small town –Storybrooke– don't actually apply. He's learned that quickly, ever since he shot Belle and tried to kill the Crocodile and wasn't thrown in jail. Normally, he'd chalk it up to his charming ways but no, those don't work on Emma. He's beginning to think that she's immune. Which is incredibly frustrating, not that he'd ever admit it out loud. When he'd said on that beanstalk that he likes a challenge, well… he honestly didn't think she'd be this much of a challenge.

Milah was the most challenging woman he'd ever met, and he'd assumed it to be true. Until he met Emma. In many ways, he feels that by being _attracted_ (that's all he's willing to call it for now) to Emma, he's betraying Milah. But, he thinks that Milah would approve. Actually, he thinks that in another time, another place, the two would be good friends. Which is sort of why he's been following Emma. He's trying to figure out the differences, trying to decide if it's time to let go of his past.

On one hand, he understands the blonde. He understands the pain of abandonment and the underlying fear. He understands pretending to be so confident when in reality you think so lowly of yourself that you don't think anyone could ever love you. He understands the logic of only thinking for yourself. He understands the trust issues. Most of all, he understands the walls. He knows what it's like to be so terrified of getting hurt so you do everything in your power to keep people away. Milah, she was never like that. Maybe that's what his problem was, a few weeks ago. Why he hated himself so much for being attracted to Emma. He could only think that he was trying to replace Milah. Except he isn't. Emma is nothing like Milah, and he loves (did he really just think that?) her for it. Emma would never leave Henry. And there's something else, too, he decides. Some glaring difference that he can't figure out. He's torn away from his thoughts as Emma swaggers down the street, presumably to pick Henry up from school despite the eleven-year-old's protests that he's perfectly capable of walking himself home. He finds the way Emma holds herself very attractive. And that's when it hits him.

He doesn't l-lo-love her for her incredible beauty and other shallow reasons, he loves her because of who she is. He loves her hilarious facial expressions, and the way she interacts with Henry, and the fact that she'll fight for what she believes in and for what she loves, no matter the consequences. He loves that behind her tough exterior, she's still very much a hurt little girl who only wants to do the right thing. He decides that even though those walls are infuriating at times, they're part of what makes Emma, Emma. And he loves the fact that he's the one chipping away at her walls, piece by piece, to teach her how to love again. Sometimes, Hook thinks, letting go of the past is a good thing.


End file.
